'CIA runs Scorpions'

2005-10-09 12:04

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Johannesburg - The National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has accused some members of the Directorate of Special Operations, also known as the Scorpions, of spying for foreign governments. It claims that the elite investigative body is breaking the law by running its own intelligence unit.

The NIA is unhappy about the Scorpions' alleged working relationship with US-owned Kroll, a risk-management company with perceived strong ties to former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operatives. There are also concerns about the Scorpions' apparent close and regular liaisons with the American embassy in Tshwane.

The Scorpions and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) are also said to "have become the platform from where the old (apartheid) guard seeks to consolidate and direct criminal justice processes in South Africa".

Senior investigators at the elite unit, many of whom handle sensitive probes into matters of national security, are said to have "resisted" being vetted by the NIA which is the usual practice with all other state agencies that deal with security issues and state information.

These allegations are contained in confidential correspondence submitted to Judge Sisi Khampepe before this week's public hearings into whether the Scorpions should remain in the NPA or be incorporated into the South African Police Service (SAPS).

Earlier this week, Khampepe rejected police attempts to hold certain parts of the hearings in camera. This forced some of the parties to revise their submissions to prevent sensitive information from making its way to the public.

But City Press can reveal that, even before this week's hearings in Tshwane, a war of words had been raging with the NIA and the police on one side and the Scorpions on the other.

At the heart of the conflict between the three state agencies is the political battle over the future of the Scorpions - a powerful investigative unit whose activities have brought down - political leaders such as former deputy president Jacob Zuma, ex-ANC MP Tony Yengeni and struggle icon Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.

The NIA and the police want the Scorpions to relocate to the SAPS. They want the unit's mandate changed to prevent its continued overlap with other security structures.

Their stance received a major boost this week when Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla, whose ministry is indirectly in charge of the Scorpions, told the commission that the relations between the police and the Scorpions had "irretrievably broken down" and were unlikely to improve if the status quo remained.

In a confidential replying affidavit written by deputy national director of public prosecutions, Leornard McCarthy - who also heads the Scorpions - it emerged that the NIA believed the Scorpions "are vulnerable to exploitation by foreign entities" and that some of its members have "regular meetings with representatives" of the US embassy.

The Scorpions are accused of breaching "counter-espionage protocol" and failing to heed warnings from the NIA.

Responding to the NIA submission, McCarthy said the document contained "unsubstantiated hearsay and innuendo" and that it "bears the hallmark of sinister motives".

"Furthermore, the matters contained in the NIA document were never raised at the inter-ministerial committee or the co-ordinating committee. . .Because there was no substance or truth in the said allegations, the matters were never raised in the said fora," McCarthy said.

Key to the NIA's misgivings about the Scorpions is the claim that the unit runs its own intelligence body that does not account to the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee (Nicoc) which is in charge of the country's intelligence services.

But McCarthy denied this.

He said the DSO only "gathers, keeps and analyses information relating to matters falling within its mandate".

He said the former national director of public prosecutions, Bulelani Ngcuka, once requested that the Scorpions be granted status at Nicoc but was told "it will not be possible".

Ngcuka left the NPA last year amid claims by former intelligence operative Mo Shaik that he had spied on his comrades during apartheid.

These allegations were proved false at the Hefer Commission last year.

"It is only recently when the current national director raised the issue... that I, as head of DSO, was invited to sit on the Nicoc Principals' Forum," McCarthy said.

Other NIA claims against the Scorpions and the NPA are that:

The DSO employs foreign nationals like a Ms De Gabrielle, an American who, says McCarthy, was assigned by the US department of justice and its local counterpart to advise the NPA on financial and commercial prosecutions;

The DSO has formal relations with foreign intelligence structures and the NPA concluded a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese intelligence services;

Certain members of the NPA have "undeclared links with foreign intelligence services";

Foreign intelligence services have infiltrated DSO using private-sector companies that the Scorpions sometimes work with during investigations;

A senior DSO official provided a German agent with copies of DSO documentation - the official has links with the French Intelligence Service ;

In carrying out its operations, the DSO sometimes uses private security companies run by foreign intelligence services or with links to apartheid-era spooks; and

Senior DSO officials "compromise sensitive information" by leaking it to the media.

McCarthy denies the allegations. The National Intelligence Agency has accused some members of the Scorpions of spying for foreign governments. Johannesburg - The National Intelligence Agency (NIA) has accused some members of the Directorate of Special Operations, also known as the Scorpions, of spying for foreign governments. It claims that the elite investigative body is breaking the law by running its own intelligence unit.